Exploring social determinants of health and their impacts on self-reported quality of life in long COVID-19 patients.

This study explores the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) experienced by patients with Long COVD-19 using data from British Columbia's post-COVID-19 Recovery Clinics. A retrospective cohort of 3463 patients was analyzed to assess HRQoL through the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire which includes five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, physical health, and mental health) administered to patients; responses were analyzed using the Visual Analogue Score (VAS). Notably, 95% of participants reported HRQoL scores below 90, with 50% scoring under 60, indicating significant impacts on their well-being.

Rat Hepatitis E Virus Isolates Cluster among Urban Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus) across a Roadway.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a globally distributed pathogen that causes acute hepatitis in people. Recent human cases of HEV arising after contact with urban rats (Rattus spp.) have raised concerns regarding whether rats may be a source of HEV infection.

Widespread exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides among common urban mesopredators in Chicago.

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are currently the most common method to control rats in cities, but these compounds also cause morbidity and mortality in non-target wildlife. Little attention has been focused on AR exposure among mesopredators despite their ecological role as scavengers and prey for larger carnivores, thus serving as an important bridge in the biomagnification of rodenticides in food webs. In this study, we sampled liver tissue from raccoons (Procyon lotor; n = 37), skunks (Mephitis mephitis; n = 15), and Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana; n = 45) euthanized by pest professionals and brown rats (Rattus norvegicus; n = 101) trapped in alleys in Chicago, USA to evaluate how often these species are exposed to ARs.

SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance of Wild Mice and Rats in North American Cities.

From July 2020 to June 2021, 248 wild house mice (Mus musculus), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), and black rats (Rattus rattus) from Texas and Washington, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 exposure and infection. Two brown rats and 11 house mice were positive for neutralizing antibodies using a surrogate virus neutralization test, but negative or indeterminate with the Multiplexed Fluorometric ImmunoAssay COVID-Plex, which targets full-length spike and nuclear proteins. Oro-nasopharyngeal swabs and fecal samples tested negative by RT-qPCR, with an indeterminate fecal sample in one house mouse.

Associations between Rat Infestations and Mental Health Vary by Gender, Race, and Income in Chicago.

Rats are an understudied stressor for people in urban environments around the world but the effects may not be distributed equally among residents. In this study, we examined associations between residential rat sightings and mental health in Chicago, where rat complaints are the highest of any American city. We examined how this relationship varied by frequency of rat sightings, race, ethnicity, income, home ownership, and gender and explored potential psychosocial pathways (e.

Urban rats are the 'fall-guy': Resident motivations for municipal rat complaints.

Rats are an important issue in cities globally. Despite their ubiquity, perceptions and concerns about rats vary with circumstance and the context in which a person interacts with them. Municipal rat management programs are a service to communities and therefore must be responsive to the varied concerns of their residents.

Detection of multiple human enteropathogens in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from an under-resourced neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) can carry various human pathogens, and may be involved in pathogen propagation and transmission to humans. From January 31-August 14, 2021, a community outbreak of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a occurred among unhoused or poorly housed people in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The source could not be identified; however, patients reported contact with rats, and previous studies indicated transmission of rat-associated zoonotic pathogens among the unhoused or poorly housed residents of this neighborhood.

Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from peridomestic species: A scoping literature review.

spp. may acquire and disseminate antimicrobial resistant bacteria or antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. We conducted a scoping review to synthesize available research findings on AMR in spp.

No Isolate, No Problem: Using a Novel Insertion Sequence PCR to Link Rats to Human Shigellosis Cases in an Underserved Urban Community.

During an investigation into a cluster of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a cases in an underserved community, we assessed the relatedness of human and rat S. flexneri isolates utilizing a novel PCR targeting insertion sites (IS-PCR) of mobile elements in the Shigella genome characteristic of the cluster strain. Whole-genome sequences of S.

Public perception of urban wildlife during a COVID-19 stay-at-home quarantine order in Chicago.

Unlabelled: Reduced human activity to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by reports of unusual wildlife sightings in highly developed areas. Such experiences with urban nature may have helped residents cope with the stress of the pandemic and increased public interest in urban wildlife; however, this may depend on the species residents encountered. In this study, we surveyed Chicago, Illinois, USA residents during a stay-at-home order to understand if residents in more affluent or greener neighborhoods saw more wildlife species.

Culling of Urban Norway Rats and Carriage of Bartonella spp. Bacteria, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

We investigated the effects of culling on Bartonella spp. bacteria carriage among urban rats in Canada. We found that the odds of Bartonella spp.

INVESTIGATION OF SARCOCYSTIS SPP. INFECTION IN FREE-RANGING AMERICAN BLACK BEARS (URSUS AMERICANUS) AND GRIZZLY BEARS (URSUS ARCTOS HORRIBILIS) IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

Sarcocystis spp. are protozoan parasites that cause a spectrum of lesions in various hosts. Hepatic sarcocystosis and encephalitis have been described in captive American black bears (Ursus americanus) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus), and in a free-ranging grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), but have not previously been reported in free-ranging American black bears.

An Outbreak of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease in British Columbia, Canada.

From 2018 to 2019, an outbreak of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 occurred in British Columbia, Canada, in feral and domestic European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Anthropogenic translocation of infected animals is suspected to have played a role in the introduction and spread of the virus.

"I don't feel safe sitting in my own yard": Chicago resident experiences with urban rats during a COVID-19 stay-at-home order.

Background: Encounters with rats in urban areas increase risk of human exposure to rat-associated zoonotic pathogens and act as a stressor associated with psychological distress. The frequency and nature of human-rat encounters may be altered by social distancing policies to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, restaurant closures may reduce food availability for rats and promote rat activity in nearby residential areas, thus increasing public health risks during a period of public health crisis.

Is Carriage of Leptospira interrogans by Rats Influenced by the Urban Environment or Population Density?

Leptospira interrogans is one of the most important zoonotic pathogens globally. In urban settings, Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are important reservoirs of L. interrogans, but it is unclear how this bacterium is transmitted among rats.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND NARRATIVE SYNTHESIS OF THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES FOR THE SURVEILLANCE OF AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUSES IN WILD WATERBIRDS.

Wild waterbirds are reservoir hosts for avian influenza viruses (AIV), which can cause devastating outbreaks in multiple species, making them a focus for surveillance efforts. Traditional AIV surveillance involves direct sampling of live or dead birds, but environmental substrates present an alternative sample for surveillance. Environmental sampling analyzes AIV excreted by waterbirds into the environment and complements direct bird sampling by minimizing financial, logistic, permitting, and spatial-temporal constraints associated with traditional surveillance.

Using genetic relatedness to understand heterogeneous distributions of urban rat-associated pathogens.

Urban Norway rats () carry several pathogens transmissible to people. However, pathogen prevalence can vary across fine spatial scales (i.e.

Flea Presence and Abundance Are not Predictors of Carriage in Norway Rats () from an Underserved Neighborhood of Vancouver, Canada.

Urban Norway rats () carry pathogenic spp. that are transmitted among rats and from rats to people through arthropod vectors, particularly fleas. There is marked temporospatial variation in spp.

When the Sum of the Parts Tells You More Than the Whole: The Advantage of Using Metagenomics to Characterize spp. Infections in Norway Rats () and Their Fleas.

Urban Norway rats () are a reservoir for spp. - a genus of zoonotic bacteria transmitted by hematophagous vectors, particularly fleas. Rats and fleas may be infected with more than one species; however, mixed infections may be difficult to detect using culture and/or mono-locus PCR.

City sanitation and socioeconomics predict rat zoonotic infection across diverse neighbourhoods.

Rat-associated zoonoses transmitted through faeces or urine are of particular concern for public health because environmental exposure in homes and businesses may be frequent and undetected. To identify times and locations with greater public health risks from rats, we investigated whether rat characteristics, environmental features, socioeconomic factors, or season could predict rat infection risk across diverse urban neighbourhoods. In partnership with a pest management company, we sampled rats in 13 community areas along an income gradient in Chicago, a large city where concern about rats has increased in recent years.

"They're always there": resident experiences of living with rats in a disadvantaged urban neighbourhood.

Background: The presence of urban rats in the neighbourhood environment may negatively impact the physical and mental health of residents. Our study sought to describe the experiences with, perceptions of, and feelings towards rats and rat control efforts among a group of disadvantaged urban residents in Vancouver, Canada.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were held with 20 members of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) recruited by VANDU staff.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in urban Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) populations: Epidemiology and the impacts of kill-trapping.

Urban Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) populations can carry the bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). There are numerous knowledge gaps in the epidemiology of MRSA in these populations that limit understanding of its ecology in urban environments. For example, fecal shedding of MRSA, which may increase environmental contamination, has been reported in other species; however, it is unknown whether Norway rats carry the bacteria rectally.

Urban rat races: spatial population genomics of brown rats () compared across multiple cities.

Urbanization often substantially influences animal movement and gene flow. However, few studies to date have examined gene flow of the same species across multiple cities. In this study, we examine brown rats () to test hypotheses about the repeatability of neutral evolution across four cities: Salvador, Brazil; New Orleans, USA; Vancouver, Canada; and New York City, USA.

Leptospira spp. in the Oral Cavity of Urban Brown Rats ( Rattus norvegicus) from Vancouver, Canada-Implications for Rat-Rat and Rat-Human Transmission.

We tested the urine and saliva of 137 wild rats ( Rattus norvegicus) from Vancouver, Canada, for the presence of Leptospira spp. Only one saliva sample was found positive and two were suspect, all from urine-positive rats ( n=81), indicating that active shedding of leptospires in saliva is unlikely to occur.

Effects of Culling on Leptospira interrogans Carriage by Rats.

We found that lethal, urban rat control is associated with a significant increase in the odds that surviving rats carry Leptospira interrogans. Our results suggest that human interventions have the potential to affect and even increase the prevalence of zoonotic pathogens within rat populations.